East Meets West: Artist Statement

Triptych: Unknown God
Watercolor
Unknown God 18x30
$350
Jesus or Shiva 7x18
$75
7x18
$75
(Prices for prints)

East Meets West is the result of the mixing of two distinct cultures and worldviews. As a student of Religious Studies and Philosophy, I find the mixing of religion and the lines that separate culture from religion fascinating. In the field of religious studies the term that is applied to the mixing and combing of seemingly contradictory religions and cultures is syncretism.

Talents, Mixed Media

My experiences before, after and during India have led me to create some works dealing with the meeting, clashing, and synchronization of my own religion, Christianity, and the beautiful aesthetic of Hindu culture. Eight months after traveling to India I am still trying to process my experience and have continued to immerse myself in the culture that I find so beautiful. To my surprise, returning home and actively observing American culture is teaching me almost as much as being in India did.

I find that learning about other cultures allows growth and a greater understanding of the world around you that can only be experienced when two worlds meet, clash, and synchronize with each other. East Meets West is just that, a syncretic mix of the Eastern culture and my own Western world views.



For more information or to follow my exhibition please check out the Event Page or my Facebook page.

Typography: English vs Devanagari

As a graphic designer whose strength lies in typography and a love of type and words, I am stoked to get better at both Hindi/Devanagari and Urdu scripts.

by Folography.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.

This is great! I absolutely love that I have a book at home that goes through these same terms with the English alphabet. There are of course some slight differences. Such as English doesn’t have a link but rather ligatures (mostly used in old English) and we have serifs rather than noses, cusps and hooks.

Caps and lowercase letters are also common in English making the x-height useful in a different way making the ascenders and descenders a bit more dramatic in Hindi. This is graphically the one aspect of Hindi/Devanagari script that I am not excited to work with.

I still have a long ways to go before I can start practicing with Urdu script and really using the Hindi alphabet.

Te read more about Hindi/Urdu/Devanagari be sure to check out HindiForChristmas.blogspot.com, my blog about how I am learning the Hindi language.  To see more of my India inspired art and more script check out my India Inspired Art section of this Blog.

India Inspired Art

Be sure to check out my Indian Inspired Artwork in my Facebook gallery. I will be adding more to this album as time goes on and as more work is displayed in public. If you are interested in purchasing work please message me on Facebook or email me at FeliciaFollum (at) gmail (dot) com.

Some of the topics that my Indian Inspired Artwork addresses include Women in India, Trash, and the Mixing of Religion and Culture. 

Keep an eye out for my Artist Statement about my India Inspired Artwork to learn more and see how the body of work develops.
 

The Hinglish Project

The Hinglish Project typeface is absolutely gorgeous! I hope you enjoy the beautiful design as much as I do as a graphic designer.


Hindi is a difficult language to learn. Well at it appears that way at first. The Hinglish Project typeface is an excellent tool to help people familiarize themselves with the beautiful script.



As you may or may not know I have been practicing Hindi (which you can learn more about at HindiForChristmas) for a couple months now and hope to be able to read by December. Be sure to subscribe to see how I am using Hindi in my artwork as well.

Like my Facebook page and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more updates and videos in response to my time in India.